It seems that each Country (except our own) seems to be trying to outdo each other in how they can energize the fashion world into promoting beauty as a form of being healthy. Spain was the first to mandate that fashion models have at least a BMI of 18.5, then followed Milan and Brazil’s ban on underweight and underage models from walking the runway and required them to present a certificate of good health from a doctor and now Spain is taking the lead once again by standardizing sizes in women’s clothing.
Spain’s government has signed an agreement with top fashion designers to reflect the actual sizes of women in their society. They do this in an effort to promote a healthier image in the hope to reinforce the idea that good health is beautiful. The program also mandates that clothing, no smaller than a size 38 (8 in the US, be shown in fashion store windows. Although a WWD’s article stated store mannequins would be “plumper” due to this regulation, I hardly think of a size 8 as being plump at all.
I have to admit that I love watching each Country basically challenge each other in who can be the most innovative when it comes to promoting good health through the fashion world. Obviously I don’t think this is the only industry that deserves regulation to promote health and educate women about eating disorders, however fashion is a major part of our lives and many times, seems to make the most impact.
What do you think? Will the trend of regulations continue in the fashion industry among each Country?
Comments (2)
I think Spain is setting a fantastic example of why you have to keep the average woman in mind in this multi billion dollar industry. It's not to say we should change sizes simply to accommodate the ever growing epidemic of overweight adults.
But when WWD thinks that a size 8 is plump, it is telling of how skewed our perception of body image is because of the fashion industry.
Posted by Sandra | January 30, 2007 3:37 AM
Posted on January 30, 2007 03:37
I agree Sandra. Size 8 as plump reminded me of the NutriSystem commercial with Zora where she boasts of going from a size 8 to size 4....as if size 8 was obese!
Posted by Shannon | February 2, 2007 10:22 PM
Posted on February 2, 2007 22:22